The South Korean government said Wednesday it will delay the resumption of American beef imports after finding problems with operating procedures at U.S. meat processing facilities.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said inspections of 37 U.S. meat processing facilities last month revealed shortcomings in some that need to be solved before the import ban can be lifted.
This is expected to push back South Korea's imports of U.S.
beef by at least a month. Originally, American beef was to hit store shelves in late June.
Problems cited by Seoul are meat processing facilities that butcher foreign animals along with those raised in the United States. In addition, some facilities do not use different butchering tools on animals that are older than 30 months and those under this age.
The butchering of foreign animals is an issue since South Korea only allows beef from Australia, New Zealand and Mexico into the country while banning others, particularly from Canada. Seoul said using different butchering tools might make it hard to determine if the meat is from a cattle over 30 months old or under. South Korea agreed in January that it will only import beef from animals under 30 month old, and will not allow bone-in beef such as ribs into the country.
"In the United States, such procedures are not seen as problems, but we feel these issues need to be addressed before any imports take place," said Park Hyun-chool, head of the ministry's livestock bureau. He said U.S. officials understand the concerns.
He added that while not all meat processing facilities had the same problems, Seoul wanted all the issues resolved before authorization is given.
"The United States needs to provide assurances on concerns raised," the official said.
South Korea imposed the ban in late 2003 after a case of mad cow case was discovered in the U.S.
An eight-person fact-finding team returned from inspections on May 21, and experts have reviewed the results to determine which processing facilities met standards and can be allowed to ship products to South Korea.
Kang Mun-il, chief of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, said that the two countries plan to hold talks on the issue and exchange information needed to ascertain if South Korean requests are being met.
Kang said the differences were not great, and with appropriate measures could be resolved within a month's time.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Ministry said that if any bones are found in imported U.S. beef in the future, the meat processing facility that shipped the product could be banned from future exports. However, it said whether this ban will include others has to be considered.
Seoul June 7 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea puts off resumption of U.S. beef imports |
